messages to messages to messages to mm messages to su- -ress -- do ou think that the suppress —— do you think that the biden_ suppress —— do you think that the biden administration's investigation into china _ biden administration's investigation into china cossack shipping is going to push— into china cossack shipping is going to push the — into china cossack shipping is going to push the relationship back. is the us— to push the relationship back. is the us ready to move forward with sanctions? — the us ready to move forward with sanctions? given north korea is also sending _ sanctions? given north korea is also sending massive shipments of music missions— sending massive shipments of music missions to — sending massive shipments of music missions to russia, did you bring that up— missions to russia, did you bring that up with your chinese counterpart? did you get any chinese cooperation— counterpart? did you get any chinese cooperation there? did tick—tock of the station — cooperation there? did tick—tock of the station today? have you expected chinese _ the station today? have you expected chinese to _ the station today? have you expected chinese to respond?

that put this in perspective, the united states remain the largest market for chinese product of any country around the world and our own trade relationship remains very significant, in fact, trade relationship remains very significant, infact, china is our third largest trading partner and after mexico and after american businesses and investors in shanghai there remains very strong interest in working in this market, provided that we a level playing field and a fair shot. when we do, we do very well. but when we are looking at the question of tariffs, measures etc, what we're focused on its practices engaged in by china that are unfair and undermine our businesses and our workers and this question of overcapacity is the one that is front and centre. china is

responsible for one third of global production but one tenth of global demand. so there is a clear mismatch and when you have products that are produced here and producing a way thatis produced here and producing a way that is heavily subsidised, heavily supported other ways and that allows those products to be sold at low prices and sometimes below—market prices and sometimes below—market prices in other countries, pushing businesses from those countries out of business and having potentially devastating effect on communities, workers, businesses, that is something that we have to, and standing against. but other important thing it is notjust us, this is a concern i have heard around the world and notably from european partners and this came up in conversationjust a european partners and this came up in conversation just a a week ago when we had a meeting of the g7. so this is not about containing china, cutting off trader investment. as

you had the secretary say, this is important to us and other countries around the world but we want to ensure that it is done fairly in a way that doesn't have these unfair effects in our industry, workers and companies and that is something that is shared across a well. when it comes to china's support for russia's defence and industrial base, all i can tell you is i was extremely clear about our concerns in some detail but we will have to see what actions follow from that. now, i think china has demonstrated in the past when it comes to russia and ukraine that it can take positive action. you will recall that well over a year ago we had concerns that russia was considering possibly using a nuclear weapon and i believe china's voice was

important in at least at that time moving russia away from the possible course of action. but now it is absolutely critical that the support that it absolutely critical that the support thatitis absolutely critical that the support that it is providing, not in terms of weapons, but components for the defence industrial base... that of weapons, but components for the defence industrial base. . ._ defence industrial base... that is antony blinken _ defence industrial base... that is antony blinken talking _ defence industrial base... that is antony blinken talking in - defence industrial base... that is antony blinken talking in beijing | antony blinken talking in beijing after his talks with president xi jinping. he announced that china and the us would hold their first talks on artificial intelligence. we will have more on that. stay with us here on bbc news.

big tech to the rescue. microsoft — and google owner, alphabet — bank bumper profits from al, easing frazzled nerves on wall street. and a double whammy on the us economy. growth slows sharply. but inflationjumps — dashing hopes of interest rate cuts from the federal reserve. welcome to world business report, i'm tadhg enright. we start with big tech — and what a difference a day makes! this time yesterday, meta — the owner of facebook, instagram and whatsapp — rattled wall street with disappointing forecasts —

making it clear that the billions its spending on artificial intelligence could take years to pay off. well, new updates from two more tech giants have calmed those nerves. microsoft — now the world's most valuable company — and alphabet — which owns google — have both seen their profits jump thanks to excitement about the potential of artificial intelligence. let's show you the details. in the three months to the end of march, microsoft made almost $22 billion, that's up 20% on this time last year. and alphabet made more than $23 billion over the same period. that's a jump of 57% on last year. erin delmore has more from new york. among the dozens of companies reporting first—quarter earnings on thursday, alphabet and microsoft alphabet and microsoft took centre stage.

both beat expectations on earnings and revenue thanks in no small part to investments in artificial intelligence. one standout spot for alphabet was google cloud revenue, whichjumped 28% in 01. a lot of generative ai tools rely on the cloud to reach customers. alphabet announced some good news for investors. it's first ever dividend of 20 cents per share. and an additional $70 billion buy—back. that initially sent shares into the double digits after the bell. and for microsoft's part, its intelligent cloud division delivered greater revenue than expected thanks to a boost from microsoft's partnership with openai, the creator of chatgtp. the creator of chatgpt. shares of microsoft also initially rose on the news. and together they should go some way toward restoring confidence in the tech sector, which was shaken on wednesday when meta stock fell after its own earnings report and after the wider market was rattled thursday morning by slowing us gdp and stubborn inflation. joining me now is technologyjournalist chris stokel—walker.

what are these companies, microsoft and agetting right when it comes to ai? and agetting right when it comes to al? n and agetting right when it comes to ai? 4' , and agetting right when it comes to ai? ~ , a, and agetting right when it comes to ai? ~ , ~ ~ and agetting right when it comes to al? ~ , s, a, , , ai? i think they made a pretty significant _ ai? i think they made a pretty significant bet _ ai? i think they made a pretty significant bet at _ ai? i think they made a pretty significant bet at the - ai? i think they made a pretty significant bet at the start - ai? i think they made a pretty significant bet at the start of. ai? i think they made a pretty i significant bet at the start of the ai revolution and it is really paying off. we have to remember that both of these companies were pretty big piece in the tech sector already and nobody could say that they were anything like that but they were initially mocked for doing some sort of misstep, particularly on the consumer facing of misstep, particularly on the consumerfacing ai. we of misstep, particularly on the consumer facing ai. we saw alphabet�*s, google, gemini making terrible mistakes and microsoft's search engine making errors but it turns out that initial investment means they have been able to fine tune that and particularly on the business side, the enterprise side. it is really had a huge benefit and they are saying demand is outstripping supply. the they are saying demand is outstriuinu su--l. . ., ., , outstripping supply. the technology is still nascent, _

outstripping supply. the technology is still nascent, they _ outstripping supply. the technology is still nascent, they are _ outstripping supply. the technology is still nascent, they are investing l is still nascent, they are investing billions, how can it be that they are still making profits already? fir are still making profits already? (1) is that the case? they are making profit in something, we heard that google cloud has something like $900 million of profit in the first three months of the air but it is worth pointing out these habit companies with lots of divisions and they tend to cross subsidise so it is a case that while some elements of this are working, they are putting in huge amounts of investment into other areas and that might not necessarily be making the money in the short—term. be making the money in the short-term.— to the us economy now — because markets were rattled on thursday by a �*double whammy�* of bad news — a big slowdown in growth and a jump in inflation. us economic growth slowed sharply betweenjanuary and march — to an annual rate of i.6%. that's down from 3.1l% at the end of last year — and much weaker than expected. in fact it was the slowest pace in 2 years.

perhaps more worrying is the surge in inflation. the �*personal consumption expenditures index' or pce — which tracks prices of goods excluding food and energy — was up 3.7% betweenjanuary and march, sharply higher than the 2% rise seen last quarter. the index is closely watched by the federal reserve, which wants to see it at 2%. that's severely dented hopes of interest rate cuts any time soon. jane foley is head of foreign exchange strategy at rabobank. we asked her whether we might soon begin to talk about the dreaded �*stagflation' — when growth is stagnant — but inflation remains high. it is a phrase that you can attribute more to some european countries, and you've got to remember that growth father us is still running at a faster clip than most european countries. quite significantly compared with countries such as germany, for instance, but like you said, we did get that down with surprise. gdp coming in withjust i.6%

which is an annual number, but that is still about half of what we saw in the fourth quarter. there are some ifs and buts. for instance, one of the big reasons that gdp missed those estimates is because firms used up their stocks rather than producing more. and also there was a lot of import. and also there was a lot of imports. people were consuming in part which actually detract from that headline gdp number. but we are still seeing some signs of slowdown but the price aspect that reallyjittered the market here, and that is because the inflation numbers coming in much firmer than expected. today we have got some really important inflation numbers from the us. and now the market is thinking, well, they are going to come out stronger than we thought they would have done and that is what is pushing back these hopes for her fed interest rate cut. all dark trace accept at $5.3 billion ta keover takeover bid.

the buyer thoma bravo says it's long been an admirer of darktrace's "capability in artificial intelligence" and that it's at the cutting edge of cybersecurity technology. taking the company private is another blow to the london stock exchange which has lost several high profile listings over the past year. uk based mining firm anglo american says it has rejected a £31.1 billion takeover bid from australian rival, bhp. it says the bid significantly undervalues their company and its future prospects. this wasn't unexpected — as shares of anglo american had risen some 16% in london trading on thursday — indicating that investors are anticipating a more generous offer. the ftse 100 has hit a the ftse100 has hit a fresh record high today. it has been a buoyant week boosted by upbeat results. that is close to that high of the ftse

100.

support hello from the bbc sport centre. we're starting with the premier league title race because manchester city are once again breathing down arsenal's necks and it's in their hands — they're just a point behind them with a game in hand although arsenal have superior goal difference if it comes to that. but city tried to improve that last night, putting four past brighton in a routine win at the amex. phil foden scoring twice and the other goals from kevin de bruyne and julain alvarez. the reigning champions are most people's favourites to win the title again. it would be four in a row, something no club has ever done before. every game is a mystery. what

happened _ every game is a mystery. what happened is — every game is a mystery. what happened is it _ every game is a mystery. what happened is it is _ every game is a mystery. what happened is it is still _ every game is a mystery. transit happened is it is still important every game is a mystery. wrath happened is it is still important we are there. there